Pocono resorts plan to hire thousands for winter

We may have dodged the snow bullet this week, but ski areas in the Poconos aren't betting that keeps up.

MICHAEL SADOWSKI

We may have dodged the snow bullet this week, but ski areas in the Poconos aren't betting that keeps up.

The resorts are gearing up for winter, and that means hiring thousands of people to staff grooming machines, lift lines, ski patrol and dozens of other seasonal jobs.

Local ski resorts plan to hire about 3,500 people to staff six different slopes, with Jack Frost Big Boulder leading the way at about 1,000 seasonal employees.

Almost all of the jobs at the ski resorts are part-time, seasonal jobs that aren't required to receive Pennsylvania's standard minimum wage of $7.25. The jobs normally carry the benefit of free lift tickets and rentals for employees.

Ski resorts hire back many employees who worked there previous years — Jack Frost Big Boulder in Lake Harmony has a 75 percent retention rate from previous employees, according to human resources manager Cindy Derolf — but still needs hundreds of new employees.

Camelback Mountain Resort in Tannersville and Shawnee Mountain in Shawnee-on-Delaware have job fairs scheduled for today, with Camelback hosting another one Tuesday. Ski Big Bear in Lackawaxen will have one Nov. 17.

Derolf said Jack Frost Big Boulder has yet to decide whether it will host a job fair, but said it would be later this month if it did.

There will be spin-off hires as well. Christina Rodis-Durst, assistant general manager at Desaki Restaurant in Swiftwater, said the restaurant will hire about 12 extra people for the ski season, and will increase the hours that its shuttle service will run to nearby resorts like Great Wolf and the Inn at Pocono Manor.

"We're very grateful to be at the foot of Camelback Mountain," she said. "And that we can draw from the resorts that are near us during ski season."

Steve Ertle, marketing manager for Fernwood Hotel and Convention Center, said how many people get hired at the resort depends on what the weather looks like. But there is definitely a bump in business that comes with good skiing weather.

"A lot of businesses in the area start doing the snow dance around this time because the better the winter season, the more tourists will come and enjoy winter activities in the Pocono Mountains and that enables us to schedule more people to work," Ertle said. "And early forecasts are saying this winter will be a lot better than last year."